HERALD PHOTO BY BARBARA BEAN-MELLINGER
Sandy Price is excited to find another orchid has bloomed.

HERALD PHOTO BY BARBARA BEAN-MELLINGER
Shampoo ginger is one of Sandy Price’s unusual plants.

HERALD PHOTO BY BARBARA BEAN-MELLINGER
African fire bush may originally have been native to Florida, said Sandy Price.

HERALD PHOTO BY BARBARA BEAN-MELLINGER
Moses-in-the-Cradle is easy to grow and adds unexpected colorful flowers.

HERALD PHOTO BY BARBARA BEAN-MELLINGER
Nancy Price mixes hanging pots, ground pots and in-ground plantings for variety.

HERALD PHOTO BY BARBARA BEAN-MELLINGER
Gordon Bower, left, and neighbor Jeff Joffe share their passion for palms.

HERALD PHOTO BY BARBARA BEAN-MELLINGER
Jeff Joffe plants bromeliads among his palm landscape.

HERALD PHOTO BY BARBARA BEAN-MELLINGER
Neighbors benefit from Jeff Joffe’s talents and extra plants in the cul-de-sac.

HERALD PHOTO BY BARBARA BEAN-MELLINGER
Yard warriors often pop plants into trees.

HERALD PHOTO BY BARBARA BEAN-MELLINGER
Tall coconut palms grace Jeff Joffe’s yardscape.

HERALD PHOTO BY GORDON BOWER
A “tunnel of palms” leads to Gordon Bower’s door.

HERALD PHOTO BY GORDON BOWER
Gordon Bower’s Cuban belly palm hasn’t yet acquired its swollen trunk.

HERALD PHOTO BY GORDON BOWER
Most of Gordon Bower’s palms were planted as seedlings just six years ago.

HERALD PHOTO BY GORDON BOWER
Gordon Bower’s home is a palm paradise.

HERALD PHOTO BY GORDON BOWER
Palms aren’t just green; they can add bright pops of color, too.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JUNE HART
Don’t let this woman near your garden if she’s wearing this trench coat. Sandy Price is either going to stick a plant in it you don’t want or steal a cutting or two for her own garden.

HERALD PHOTO BY GORDON BOWER
Sandy Price carries a poinsettia, impossibly colorful in late spring, past racks of bromeliads ready for planting.

HERALD PHOTO BY TAMI GARCIA
Kylie Sowder, a junior at Port Charlotte High School and color guard member of The Pride of Port Charlotte High School Marching Band, participates in a recent outdoor practice.